Torbay to Elliston. There and back again, a hobbit's tale... oops... wrong saga...

A switch of shifts at work resulted in an unexpected 5-day weekend for me. What to do? There's this lovely new Burgman scooter sitting in the shed, just waiting to go for a long ride. I'd been wanting to get out to Elliston to see the puffins up close and personal. This was my chance! Paul and his lovely red horse, the Buell Ulysses, are my travel companions. The trip began slowly with a dirt bike ride. Not me. Paul and his good buddy, Matt the Sailor dude. Paul's orange steed, the KTM, had been acting up and the boys had to do a bit of troubleshooting of the electrical system. A short ride had been planned and nothing, but nothing, would stop it. Noon departure from Torbay for the first "short" leg of our journey. A stay in Bay de Verde at a friend's weekend cabin. But wait! It's a hot day (for a wonder) and I've only got a pair of lined riding gloves! First stop, Toy Box in Donovan's. Success! Lightweight, vented gloves and advice from Keith to check out beautiful Port de Grave and a couple of other beauty spots/roads. Here's my new gloves. This is after I've used them for several days straight. They were soft and flexible from the start, so I'm very pleased that I bought them. Yeah, they were a bit pricey, but the old adage, "you get what you pay for" is often true. I wanted riding gloves. This is them.

After a quick trip through Port de Grave (did you see the peacocks, Paul?) and Bareneed, we picked up a donair at the Greco/Coffee Stop just by Spaniard's Bay. Refuelled the riders.

Donair?

Don'Ask

In spite of my mixed feelings about eating something I absolutely couldn't identify, nor did I really want to, it was delicious. (what's donair sauce?!) I wish there'd been a picnic table outside. There was no a/c in the place. Did I mention it was hot outside? We stopped off to take a quick pic of the bikes in front of this airplane. Where am I? Does anybody know where this thing is? Seriously... There's a ginormous boat stuck in the water somewhere behind the plane, if that offers some sort of a clue. We left our map neatly folded on the kitchen table.

Restored by the calories and riding with unzipped jackets, we continued past Old Perlican to Bay de Verde. There were a few rough patches of sand on the hill down into town. As always, on the worst corners. Baby Huey and I managed with only a few out-of-pace heartbeats. Did I mention this was only my 4th ever ride?! Paul is pushing my envelope. Hard! He says it's the only way to make my bike go faster. Smarty-pants. My bike got tired right at the end, in the parking lot of our accommodations. (fyi, when a rider says their bike got tired, it means the darned thing fell down.) Next time, I'm just going to hit the kill switch and hand Paul my iPhone for a fun photo. There's nothing quite like a sexy bike laying on its side, handlebars waving in the air, rider, also sexy, waving her arms in the air and crawling out from under the 500-lb Baby Huey. Damage: one questionable reflector and minor scratches along the bottom keel. Note to self: practice tight turns. Gravel not needed, but helpful for effect and built-in excuses. Our little campfire spot in Bay de Verde

Total time to reach destination? We left @1, arrived@ 6:30. This was the short day. My arse was numb, my wrist were humming, my pride was dented but still good. But hey! I'd just finished a 4 1/2 hour ride. My reward? Chicken satay with homemade peanut sauce, an assortment of cheeses and cold cuts, bonfire, beer, and Palm Breeze vodka coolers. Fresh lobster and crab for a late supper.

Gratuitous booty shot

Warming up by the fire. I look about as tired as I feel.

We spent the night in a surprisingly comfy bed in a short-ceilinged house. Remind me to tell you about Paul's light fixture fixation. Eh, heck. I'll tell you now. He and I are about the same height. About 6' tall. The ceilings in this teeny place were low enough, but if you hang a kitchen light from the same short ceiling... well, the resulting thump as a bald head strikes it is pretty awesome. The accompanying curses were colourful. The bathroom ceiling was low enough that I had to duck to get to the toilet. Paul wasn't so clever and didn't learn from his first encounter. He left multiple bald-head smears across the bathroom ceiling. The absolute best day-breaker is a plateful of bacon...

Day 2. Bay de Verde to Elliston. We had the breakfast of champions the next morning. A pound of bacon (Actually, I think it was 2 lbs), hash browns, a dozen eggs, tomatoes, and the gods' brew, French pressed coffee. Here's a pic of our lovely hostess, Corina, making our brekkie. Mmmm... (sorry about the blurry pic. I hadn't had my first cup of coffee and my hands must've still been shaking.)

Oh! Here's evidence that Paul does dishes.

Many pounds heavier and ballasted by our meals, we departed via the same darned slippery slope at 10 am.

Next stop: A friend's place in New Melbourne on the off chance that he would be in residence. Okay, to be honest, I didn't know that was our destination, so when Paul pulled up short in a driveway, I thought it was for a piss stop, aka map check. Lo and behold, Mike and Sara were there. We stopped briefly. While beers were admired, envied, and discussed, none were consumed. We gassed up at the big stop in Clarenville, bikes and riders. Riding is hungry work. Paul gloats about the best bathroom view. Sadly, I missed it because I did not enter the men's loo. (I've since been informed that there's a spectacular view out the ladies' window... my bad.)

We twacked around along the coastal route. Stopped here and there, but never for very long, and not nearly long enough for me to haul out more than the iPhone to take a quick photograph. We took Route 230 part of the way up towards Bonavista but then at the advice of our B&B host, Doug Cole, we veered off onto Route 235. He claimed that it possessed more of the beauty that Newfoundland is famous for. He was right. Kings cove, Knights Cove... All gorgeous. We went up and over the tip of Bonavista. Here's my first ever Lighthouse Shot!

What's the story on lighthouse pictures? There used to be a lighthouse trophy contest thingie on the Ride the Rock website. I don't know what's going on this year, but I'll find out. In the meanwhile, that's my FIRST LIGHTHOUSE PIC!!! We finally arrived at our bed-and-breakfast around 5 o'clock. This was still enough time for Paul to scoot down to the convenience store to pick up a six-pack of beer, but way too late to drive back up to Bonavista to the liquor store to pick up some coolers for little old me. A shame. I don't drink beer. Luckily the proprietor managed to scrape up some Captain Morgan's dark rum for me. Yum. Two glasses of rum and coke and my numb arse didn't bother me no more. lol... I just had to navigate the stairs to the 2nd floor bedroom.

I have to add a little blurb about our accommodations, Elliston's bed-and-breakfast. Doug Cole has been running the place for about three years, with the able assistance of Triffy (short for Tryphena), his cook and cleaner. She's amazing. Sings while making you breakfast in the morning. There are four rooms for rent, two small facing the backyard and two larger facing the front streets. We picked number one, tiny but nice, facing the backyard. It turns out that the road is so seldom traveled that the front would've been just as good for noise but we wanted the greenery. The common room, living room and dining room area, was of a good size and possessed of a television, refrigerator, comfy sofa, books and magazines galore, including this one written by our esteemed host.

Together with another guest, Daniel, a hardass motorcycle rider from Germany, we walked up the road a little ways for our supper at Nanny's Root Cellar Kitchen.

It used to be an Orange Hall. Now it's yellow. Bwaaahaaaaahaaaa!!! Sorry... Sometimes I amuse myself.

I had the Jiggs dinner. It was pretty good, but my salt beef turned out to be too full of gristle to eat. My dogs would've enjoyed it a lot if they'd been there. Oh well, it was the only restaurant in town. That's what happens when you arrive late on a Sunday.

Twacking two-up on the Bergman. Elliston to Port Rexton After a hearty breakfast,

... we started our day by layering on as much clothing as could before heading out. Paul decided that we would double up on the Burgman, since we were short-tripping and he claims Baby is better suited for low speeds. (I think he just really wanted to ride her... ) We stopped to take photographs of Elliston's famous root cellars. Root cellars and a few other odds and ends we found around Elliston

The sun refused to show its face, perfect for picture taking, not so good for the cold photographers. Compared to some of the bird-watchers, Paul and I were the lucky ones. We were "over-dressed" with our riding gear. The puffins were as cute as promised. I took lots of pictures, some of which actually turned out. We donated cash to their over-stuffed, under-emptied collection box, but later on we found out that the plan is to build some sort of rails at the cliff's edge in order to keep people from getting "too close" to the puffins. Now, that's fabulous, in theory, but if you put the railing too close to the puffins, they won't nest there anymore, and they're a curious bird, so they're going to gallivant on over to check out the railings anyway! What's the point? *sigh*

Here's a few pictures I took at the cliff-side. I've got more, but don't want to bore you too much. I know I'm pretty long-winded. Deal.

This little guy is nesting directly under the cliff, so he kept bobbing his head up and playing peek-a-boo.

aaaand ACTION!!

What'd you say?

You missed your CUE!!!

This little darling has a bunch of nesting material to take back to her place.

Big Mouth

Considering their propensity for waddling, those suckers move fast. My hands were frozen by the time we were done. Back to the bed-and-breakfast for a quick warm-up. Fortified by beer and orange juice, still wearing layers of warm clothing, we hopped onto the Bergman and drove back up towards Bonavista and then around and down towards Port Rexton. The Skirwink Trail awaits. But first, lunch at the Two Whales Coffee Shop.

Can I say "Best lunch ever?!" Two Whales Coffee Shop. Free-trade, vegetarian, blah blah blah... also, Really Freaking Good! It was so delicious, I wanted to stop in for lunch the next day.

By the time we reached the parking lot at the Trailside, the sun had decided to poke its head out a little bit. We tried stuffing our riding jackets into the capacious case under the Bergman seat, but no luck. Too small with the two helmets already in it. Luckily there was a group of people from Ontario who kindly allowed us to leave our jackets in the back of their truck. Off we went on our hike. 5 km. Thanks for feeding me first, Paul. Much appreciated. This was the handy trail map

Our first sighting of a sea stack, aka Skirwink

Paul found a few buried dead things. A bicycle and ... a car?!

I can't remember what was so darned funny...

Oh yeah. Now I remember...

He's a saucy bugger. If you ever have a chance to get down to the Skirwink Trail, go for it! We carried a bottle of water with us. (see above) If the day had turned out hotter we would've needed more. As it was, we were soon panting and sweating. At one point I had to strip down to take off my flannel pajamas which were underneath my jeans. The fleece sweater joined the pjs and the scarf tied onto my camera case. I traipsed the trail feeling very much like a gypsy with all my gear dangling from my back. Should've brought that darned backpack along instead of leaving it in the closet of the B & B.

Doesn't this look sort of like a tazer?!

I have to give a plug for the seats on the back of the Burgman. Normally when I ride behind Paul on any of his motorcycles, my view is all encompassing, if by all encompassing you are referring to the view of the back of his helmet. With the Burgman seat being higher, I can actually see what's going on around me. Because of this advantage I actually saw the moose on the side of the road well before Paul saw it. A quick grab for the iPhone and I managed to get a couple shots of the back of a moose. One side view. Paul says it's the skinniest moose he has ever seen. I don't care. I saw it first.

For the record, do not take route 238 from Bonavista to Elliston while riding a scooter two-up. (Both Paul and I are built slightly on the larger end of the slide-rule.) It's a kidney stone buster. That is, unless you're looking for some fun on an adventure bike! Paul saw some whales off in the distance when we came off 238, so we continued on down to the wharf. We weren't treated to a sight of whales, but a trio of local teens on their trick bikes! Paul kept calling stunts. They kept pounding them out. They all agreed that skateboarding wasn't feasible because of the dearth of decent pavement. They also tried to convince Paul to wheelie the Burgman. Um, no. I think not.

Back in Elliston with a few bevvies; Palm Breeze coolers and Mike's Hard something or other for me, a couple more beers for Paul, and we were happy campers. So to speak.

We relaxed for a few hours until realizing it was 8:15 and supper was 5 km away in Bonavista! Back on the scooter for a quick trip to The Captain's Quarters. It's a very good thing that somebody had mentioned that the restaurant was next to the fish plant. As it was we circled around trying to find it for about 10 minutes. The yellow building next to the fish plant, FYI. Cod tongue appetizers, Caesar salad, burgers and fries. I may not have to eat for a week. We watched the sun setting over the harbor through the picture window next to our table. Lovely.

Drove back to Elliston around 10 o'clock at night. It's dark out there. No highway lights. Luckily, no more moose either. Day 4. Elliston to Torbay Breakfast at 8 o'clock in the morning. Fresh made toutons. 7 1/2 years in Newfoundland, and I've never had toutons! This lack has been more than made up for. They were good. Yes, I had them with molasses.

We did a quick drive up through Bonavista, again, and then down to Port Rexton for a muggaccino (Double shot of espresso) at my favorite coffee shop. Two Whales. On to Clarenville, where Paul surprised me with a visit to the SPCA. I had donated a portrait of one of their rescue dogs last year. Max, the shepherd, but never made it out for any of their fundraising events. In case you're wondering, the couple responsible for Max's deplorable state were found guilty.

The drive home was uneventful. We stopped for lunch at Monty's in Whitbourne. Liver and onions. Delicious. Apparently I still had room for food.

Traffic was light for most of the way. Highway driving was more enjoyable than I thought it would be, though the curves in the road were still a little tricky for me, I had to slow down a bit for them. My driving and comfort level have improved. I think this is now ride 6 or 7 as a rider. Even my tight driveway turns are showing signs of improvement. Approximately 1000 km driving will do that, I guess. The only victim on this entire trip

That's all for now. I'm looking forward to many more trips on Baby Huey. I've got the summer to look forward to. :D

Adventures in motorcycling

In case you missed the recent news flash, I am now the proud owner of a brand new 2013 Suzuki Burgman 400. What's that? It s a big, beautiful, fully automatic scooter! I looks like a badass bike. So far, I've only ridden her twice, thanks to some truly horrible weather over the long weekend. It's been fun and nerve wracking. Definitely nothing like riding a bicycle, which, by the way, I've not done any of since moving to Newfoundland. Bicycling can be done while wearing nothing more than the clothes you wear around the house. Riding motorcycle requires a few more articles of clothing. 

Helmet. Think "diving helmet" and you come close to the feeling of confinement. It allows limited visibility, which I'm sure is unintentional. Frequent fogging, which comes along with breathing inside the confining helmet in cool weather. Limited range of movement of your head, restricted pretty much to swiveling from side to side within the range of your jacket collar. Ducking your head results in an abrupt thump onto your chest. Of course, the main feature of this important piece of riding equipment is the protection it affords your melon, should you meet the pavement abruptly.

Riding jacket. Mine is black cordura with a quilted lining. For a wonder, the sleeves reach my wrists. Padded and armored, this piece of essential bike wear affords wind protection and pavement abrasion protection, should I inadvertently take a slide. The jacket is large enough in the body that I can wear an extra layer of warm clothing, ie two shirts and a sleeveless vest. Or my wonderful heated vest, which plugs into the bike's system and keeps me as toasty as any marshmallow would want.

Riding pants. Also black cordura with a quilted lining. This is the only piece of equipment that I really despise wearing. Not that I don't want butt and leg protection! No no! I like that aspect of it! Protection of my tender bod is paramount in my mind. It's just that the damn pants weren't made with a 6-ft tall, fully curved chick in mind. So, they're short, riding up higher than my lovely leather boots, and the armored bits that are there for the protection of my knees are sitting halfway up the caps and gouging into my thighs. Not conducive to ease of movement. Also not good is the fact that the slightly tapered legs are slightly tapered in the wrong spot for someone with my thigh size. Wtf does that mean? It means that raising my legs onto the bike requires a near-Herculean effort, made stressful by the fact that the ground is rolling along at the same time you're trying to get your feet onto the bike, causing some degree of wobbling while trying to "feel" your way onto the pegs. (In the case of the scooter, the floorboard.) I hate those pants. I'm gonna try to find me some tall person pants with allowance for bigger thighs and generous booty.

Leather Boots. The boots are good. They started off stiff and rigid, but have softened nicely so they're quite comfy. Double zipped and higher than my ankles, they are pretty awesome. They won't win any beauty prizes, but I've had to walk in them, and while I feel a bit like a Stormtrooper extra, they'll do just fine.

Riding gloves. Cordura, padded with armour bits. More flexible than they were when new, they're worn in to the point where I can now make a pseudo fist with ease, which means I have no trouble reaching my fingers over my brakes quickly and smoothly.

How long does it take me to dress for biking? Um... Five minutes or so?

May long weekend. Three days off! Riding! Wheee! Um... No. Friday was the only day it wasn't completely pissing rain. Since I only have my learner's permit for motorcycling, I have to ride with a fully licensed buddy. That buddy can be riding a motorcycle or driving a car. Doesn't matter. As long as they are with me. Lol... My support team of one! Paul led me up our road to the intersection at Torbay and signaled a right turn. My support team member was starting to worry me already. My unspoken hope of doing drills to familiarize myself with the bike in the relative safety of the parking lot of the Jack Byrne Arena flew right out of my head. Should probably have told him what I wanted to do, hmm? 

So, with a bit of a struggle, I got the bike onto Torbay Rd, heading north towards Flatrock. A shaky start, of course, but any fool can ride a bike if they don't have to worry about stopping, turning corners, or worrying about traffic. This fool wasn't any different. Chanting "look where you want to go" under my breath, I followed the leader.    ...   ... ...   ...   ???  !!!   !!!  !!! 

I learned how to decelerate on hills, lean into curves, and how to come to a stop. Oh boy. Don't use your feet before your bike has come to a stop! Hold your bike upright with your knees! Brake in a straight line!!! Don't be abrupt, or your horse will try to fling you over it's head. 

We did some finishing drills at the Arena, then headed for home. Thank f*#*!!!  I'd spent that entire ride on a roller coaster of emotions. My muscles were in dire need of loosening. Moments of relaxed happiness, cuz I've got pretty good balance and the actual driving is a pleasure, interspersed with moments of tension and fear of dropping the bike, steering into the ditch, chuddering the bike to a rough stop and the classic "stop the bike with your feet." Practice is needed, and the second ride, yesterday, went better for it.

Ride two went better, (Although a bad left turn from a full stop onto Logy Bay Rd resulted in a curb climb, turn, roll off the curb. A lovely move, judging by the dropped jaw of oncoming traffic, but wholly unintentional), and the subsequent practice at the parking lot taught me greater control at accelerating out of a stop into a turn, and smoother braking. Not perfect braking, but better. 

We swooped and spun around the Thomas Amusement trucks, and I got better at judging my turns, then lining up to park the bike and braking with a bit more confidence.

I could use a Novice sticker on the back of my helmet... Maybe some rookie wings? 

I think we're going out again this afternoon once the rush hour traffic dies down. Whee?! 

Long time, no Blogger...

Gads! has it been that long? To tell the truth, I can't seem to keep up with things sometimes. O well...

So, brief update. 

Quit job at Samuel & Co after 1 1/2 years. Loved the job, but was feeling generally dissatisfied with the requirements of the world of retail. Maybe if I had something invested in the company, but aside from a pay cheque... Um... No... Miss the people, coworkers and customers, miss seeing the new fashions as they come in. Do I miss spending money on them? No, I do not.

Being a smart cookie, I didn't quit the job until I had another lined up. I'm now working as a Hostess at the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at the St. John's Airport. Same people skills needed, no selling. Less pay. Boo. No tips. Double boo. I would LOVE to find a job that offers what this one does, plus great pay. It does offer benefits, though, so that's an advantage. And aside from the crazy 4am shift, it's really enjoyable. (FYI, yes, it's really f'ing dark at 4 in the morning.)

Um... Bought a scooter. Just picked it up today. It's a Suzuki Burgman 400. Paul drove it home from Argo Sales and Service on Topsail Road. They're a small company, but unlike the big Harley dealership, they didn't laugh at me when I called to ask about buying a scooter. 

Going to Italy in a week's time. Three weeks through lovely Italy with the girl child! (University graduate now!!!) I'm excited, and scared spitless. Pictures? Sure! Lol... 

The dogs are good. All three of them. The boyz are good. They're living on their own now. Together, but alone. As in, not with me. :) But they're good. As in, still among the living as of Mothers Day.

Re the plants, they're still alive, too. Although I'be passed them back to their foster mother for continued maintenance. I never did get around to watering them. Teehee... My bad.

Well, that's enough time on the damned computer. Gotta go look at my bike again. Maybe sit on it, turn on the ignition... Make vroom vroom noises... Don't laugh! I'm quite serious!!!

The Day After Mother's Day: A Review

Good morning, and welcome to the day after. Writing the day after offers the opportunity to look back and reflect, review, and any other "R's" you wish to perform.

Yesterday started innocuously enough. I woke up at approximately 6 am after a lovely sleep-in surrounded by three dogs, ranging in weight and size from @ 20 pounds to 40 pounds. Two of them snore, quite prodigiously. The third has an insane relationship with the world's gravitational field and is able to make herself seem twice as heavy as she really is while sleeping. Not my dog, I only discovered in the past two weeks that she likes to stretch out in full body-to-body contact with her person. Can you say "warm?" 

After taking the three lunatics through their morning routine: out form a quick pee, feed, take out for a more leisurely pee, etc, I checked my to-do list. It had been fairly extensive at one point but had shrunk to a manageable size with diligence and application. 

To-do List

Hot tub chemicals

Water plants

Sweep and tidy kitchen

Vacuum

Value village pile to car

Pick up people from airport at 11:58

Phone Mom

Not bad! Doing the chemicals while dogs are having their leisurely backyard pee means not standing outside in the rain twice. But it's not raining today! Well, doesn't that just thrill me all to pieces?! Looks like it might be a sunny day after all. Turns out that yesterday was a beautiful day. Sunny and warm with a hint of balmy on the air. A bit of fish, too. (That happens sometimes, when the wind blows up from the ocean.)

Water plants. Uh-oh. Left that one out. Better do that today before they wilt again. Seriously, I have some unfortunate plants. They're nice and all, but they sure do like their water on a regular basis. Since watering all the plants means filling and refilling a medium sized container over and over, trekking through several rooms of the house, clambering onto the kitchen counter in some instances, this chore is slightly dodgy. In that I tend to dodge it. Doing it on a weekly basis gives some leeway. I use the Peace Lily as my "canary in the coal mine." If it's wilty and sad, I need to water the plants. Now. So, the lily wasn't wilty and I left them off. Did I feel energetic enough to go back and forth from room to kitchen tap? No. Did I feel like clambering, monkey-like across the kitchen counters? Apparently the answer there was also "no." So, that's still on for today. 

Tidying the kitchen means making piles on the table, assigning a name to the piles, and offering them to their respective owners for relocation. Once the piles are made, the table is rendered washable. Then comes the negotiation process of de-piling the table. That has a tendency to sound something like "move your darned stuff before I toss it in the garbage." This is said in varying tones of threat and is quite effective. Follow-through on threats is important in the setting-up stage of this particular game.

The rest of the kitchen clean-up comprised of your basic run-of-the-mill washing, wiping, and sweeping, and doesn't need further description other than to say that dish washing liquid is excellent for scrubbing granite sinks. 

I just want to point out Vacuuming is best not done while wearing a floor-length, polar fleece robe. I don't mind getting sweaty for a good cause, but vacuuming isn't good enough. So, tossing on a t-shirt  and pair of capris became necessary at this point. 

I'm going to mention the three-dog pile-up members briefly. They have varying degrees of shedding coats. The two cavaliers, despite have ing lovely locks of flowing hair, shed only slightly. The blonde, a yellow lab cross, sheds copiously despite frequent brushing and furminating. The furballs that float across the hardwood and catch on the carpets have taken on a whole new dimension since her arrival. Larger, spikier,and larger. MUCH larger. And copious. Did I mention "copious?" We like to air out the house by opening doors, front and back, catching the full breeze. Whether de-hairing the house is done before or after the opening of the doors, when the wind blows through the house it invariably finds tumbleweed sized balls of hair that lift and frolic through the air, sticking to every possible surface, thereby rendering any previous cleaning a moot point. Allergy sufferers need not attempt entry. Those who don't enjoy a dog hair or two in their food, ditto. Yes, our dogs shed.

The V.V. Boutique pile has been a work in progress for several weeks. You know how it is. You have stuff, too. It's stuff you acquired with a light and happy heart, intending to love forever, or until the warranty expired. Then the elves in your closet shrunk the clothes down a size, rendering your favorite jeans unwearable, styles changed (huh?!) and you can't be seen in public wearing that out-dated old thing, you really can't remember why you bought that knick-knack that seems to gather more dust than anything else in the house and sits next to a couple of other things that seem to have lost their sentimental value now that you've had to pick them up and dust them off off at least a million times... 

The number of bags and boxes tucked in the car reminded me of the time my boys moved out. It made me wonder what my neighbors thought, if they were watching the show. Don't worry! I'm not moving! Just de-cluttering the place! 

All that was left on my list was the picking up of the people from the airport at noon. So, I sat down for a well-deserved cup of chai and a bowl of yogurt. But first, I'll check the St. John's Arrivals, to make sure their plane is going to be on time. This timely task caused a mad scramble for the truck. Their darned flight was early by nearly half an hour! How many minutes does it take to get from the house to the airport? Five. Keep an eye out for the cherry-topped vehicles. No. Not really. I knew that luggage collection would slow them down, so I drove at a fairly sedate pace. Ask my mom! I was chatting on my cell phone while driving to the airport...  Relax people. I use a Bluetooth.

So, there was my next task taken care of. Phoned my mom to wish her a Happy Mother's Day.

The rest of the day was spent with my "newly-arrived home from San Fransisco" family, the boys came over for a delicious dinner, which I didn't have to cook. An early bedtime following the imbibation (is that even a word?!) of a few glasses of white wine capped off my day quite nicely. 

And look at that! It's Monday morning and my Sweetie brought a cup of coffee for me to enjoy in bed, and the sun is shining over Torbay. There's still three dogs in my bed, but they're good company. They keep a keen eye out for hikers and dogs walking on "their" section of the East Coast trail. The house is clean, it's the middle day of a three-day weekend for me, and I have no plans other than to get out and enjoy the sun. Can it get better than that for the day after Mother's Day? I thought not.

To all the mothers out there, Happy Day After Mother's Day!

Uh oh... Can't remember my password.

Don't you hate when that happens?

Hopefully I'll remember it sometime soon. It's been a while since I've spent any quality time with either of my Blogs. Perhaps someone will be so kind as to forward this email to me so that I can look at it and maybe figure things out. :D

Sent from my iPad

January is chugging along nicely...

Wow! I see it's bee a while since I chatted in my Blog! Christmas has come and gone and the New Year (2013!!!) is well on its way.

What's new? Well, I'd been working like crazy on portraits for Christmas commissions. They were done with TWO days to spare! Yay me!!! I'm trying to build an interest for Valentine's Day portraits, followed by Easter and all those other events in people's lives. Here's a link to my Portrait Blog. I added a slideshow of my work to the top of it, so if you're not interested in reading through everything, or looking at the "in progress" pictures, you don't have to.

My Charmed by Christine Portraits blog

I'm still working at Samuel & Co, a high-end ladies' clothing store in the Avalon Mall. I'm doing between 15 and 25ish hours/week, which is just fine with me.  I need time to do my drawing, you know!!!

Speaking of drawing, I've started work on a new portrait and need to work on that tomorrow. Hmm... I'm also trying to get the house painted. When will I find time for that, I wonder?

I have a Wedding Show to attend mid-February, and another mid-March. They're lots of fun (for me) and I love meeting people, chatting them up. Typical of me, I know.

The dogs are doing great! They're as sweet and adorable as ever, and Igor continues to attend Agility training through the Newfoundland Athletic Dog Association.

It's lots of fun for the two of us. He runs around like a little Energizer Bunny/Goat Boy, hopping over obstacles, through tunnels, across teeters and off-the-ground bridges... I'm looking forward to competing with him this summer! I hope somebody's able to take videos and photos of us! (I'm the NADA's volunteer photographer... )

Sean and Kyle are both in the market for new jobs. Still. Sean signed up with the Union and is being sent to courses that he'll need to have under his belt when he's on a construction site. Falling lessons... as in, how to correctly wear a harness so that IF you fall off something, you won't hurt yourself. Crazy!

Miranda's in Grade 7 now. High school! She's TWELVE!!! OMG!!! Time just flies, doesn't it? Even her gifts are more grown-up these days. A lovely pink toolset (REAL tools!!! Made for Women's smaller hands!!!), from Grandma Sherrill, her very own kite (this is an important thing to have around our house!), and a Bow and Arrow set from us... (Paul's idea - now he has to figure out what she can shoot her arrows into. SAFELY!!! lol...)

Her birthday party was this past weekend. A sleep-over with 4 of her girlfriends. There was very little actual sleep involved. They watched movies and goofed around until the very weeeeee hours. The last "man" standing fell asleep at 7am!

She's attending her first-ever school dance tonight. "Semi-formal," she tells me last night. Just what exactly does that mean? No jeans. Oh... okay... We had to rustle something up from her wardrobe that would be appropriate. Leggings and a cute blouse with ruffles. And make-up. Omigosh...

Well, I must move along now. I'm working from noon until 5 and have a few things to do before I leave. I have my 5-pin bowling afterward, so I should probably put something out for supper tonight. Maybe. Maybe not? Eh... Sean's home. HE can cook supper! :D

Later. Do go check out my other blog. I do good work and I so love to show it off!
Hugs from ME!!!